After hearing Iliana's frantic screams, her father rushed up the stairs at full speed.

- "Iliana, Iliana! What’s happening? Are you okay, daughter?"

(Said her father, trying to calm her down.)

- "Z-Z-Z-ZORATH! A ZORATH!"

(Iliana screamed, terrified, pointing at Morgan.)

Iliana's father slowly turned to where his daughter was pointing. Then he saw Morgan, still on the floor, shaking, trying to speak. Quickly, the father stepped in front of Iliana, shielding her with his body. Immediately, Iliana’s mother also came up, holding a knife, and upon seeing the situation, she pointed it at Morgan, despite her trembling hands.

- "I don’t know how, how you got in here, but if you take a step or try to do anything to my family, I swear I’ll kill you!"

(Said the mother, her voice cracking.)

The three of them were very scared, but Morgan couldn’t understand why they seemed to see a monster, one that had come from the depths of their nightmares. He tried to speak to the family once more, but he couldn’t say a word. He kept stammering, and when he tried to stand again, he lost all strength and collapsed, unconscious.

- "Hey, hey, hey, kid! Are you okay?"

(Said a somewhat familiar voice.)

Morgan opened his eyes and saw that, for some reason, he was back in that dark place, but this time, standing before him was the god who had advocated for his soul last time, the one the god of death had called "serpent."

- "Wow, you really caused quite a commotion over there."

(Said the god, jokingly.)

Morgan stood up and touched his head because it hurt a lot.

- "What’s happening to me? What was that? Why, out of nowhere, do I have a human body again?"

(Said Morgan, confused and a bit annoyed.)

- "Oh, you mean that?"

Once again, the stone that had appeared in his dreams manifested in front of them.

- "This was my gift before you reincarnated into that world. Apparently, he was a little harsh with you and sent you straight to hell on Earth."

(Said the god, casually.)

- "What? Hell on Earth? What do you mean?"

(Said Morgan, somewhat scared.)

- "I don’t have much time. Right now I’m breaking a lot, a lot of rules to talk to you."

(Said the god, as if in a hurry.)

- "You just need to know this: no matter what happens, you can’t change. You must stay true to yourself. When things get really tough, ask for strength from what you loved most in life, from what had become your purpose and your goal."

The god made black-and-white shadows appear behind him. These shadows took forms that Morgan instantly recognized.

- "Beetle, jaguar, bat, wolf, impala."

(Said Morgan, as if in a trance.)

- "Yes, exactly. Now you know what I mean, but remember: the power is in what you desire and in what you’ve worked to learn."

(Said the god, confidently.)

The place began to tremble frantically, like an earthquake.

- "Shit, they’ve noticed! I have to go!"

The god quickly approached Morgan and made a necklace appear around his neck, rings on his hand, and a decoration in his hair that wrapped around one of his locks.

- "These were the gifts you were once given in life. The necklace will help you speak in this world, the rings to write, and the decoration to hear and read. This is all I can do for you."

The place started to disappear as the god spoke.

- "Remember, the key is in the story you told that day."

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(Said the god, as he vanished.)

- "Story? What story? Wait, tell me what I have to do!"

(Said Morgan, trying to reach the god.)

- "I trust you. I know you can. I know you will prove them wrong."

(Said the god, with difficulty.)

- "What do you mean? Wait, wait!"

Morgan sat up abruptly, breathing quickly, and began to analyze the situation. He could see that he was now in a room and lying in a bed. But when he looked at his hands and feet, he noticed that someone had tied them to the bed.

- "What is this?"

(Said Morgan, awkwardly.)

Turning his gaze, he saw Iliana's mother with the knife in hand, glaring at him with hatred.

- "What the hell are you? Where did you come from, and how did you find us?"

(Said the mother, aggressively.)

- "I..."

Morgan was surprised to hear that, for the first time, he managed to say a word.

- "My voice! My voice is back! I can talk now!"

(Said Morgan, excited.)

- "Don’t move, monster. I don’t know what kind of Zorath you are, but at the slightest sudden move, I’ll stab you!"

(Said the mother, threateningly.)

- "Sorry, I think it’s a misunderstanding. What’s a Zorath?"

(Said Morgan, calmly.)

- "You can’t fool me, little bastard. I know you’re one of them."

(Said the mother, full of hatred.)

- "Let me explain. I really don’t know what you mean or what’s happening."

(Said Morgan, trying to calm the mother.)

- "Lies, nothing but lies."

(Said the mother, very angry.)

Just as the woman was about to get even angrier, the father entered the room.

- "Wait, honey, wait!"

(Said the man, calming his wife.)

- "How do you expect me to calm down? You and I know what they are capable of. He could do something horrible to Iliana if we let him."

(Said the mother, tearfully angry.)

The woman couldn’t stop glaring at Morgan with that murderous, resentful look.

- "Ariel! Ariel! ARIEL!"

(Screamed the man, forcefully.)

- "Look at me, look at me!"

The man took Ariel’s face to make her look him directly in the eyes.

- "Listen to me, Ariel. This is too suspicious. As you said, you and I know what they’re capable of, so it doesn’t make sense for him to have let himself be tied up. If he had wanted to, the moment he woke up, he could have killed us all."

(Said the father, analyzing the situation.)

- "But... but... but..."

(Said Ariel, frightened.)

The man looked at Morgan and, still shaking, decided to speak to him.

- "Who are you and what do you want with my family?"

(Said the man firmly, swallowing hard.)

- "My name is Morgan, and I don’t want to hurt you or your family."

(Said Morgan as calmly and kindly as possible.)

- "How do I know you’re not lying?"

(Said the man confidently.)

- "You’re right, I have no way to assure you that I won’t harm your family or you, so if keeping me tied up like this makes you feel safer, I’ll stay like this."

(Said Morgan, lying back on the bed.)

The man sighed and slowly approached Morgan, getting close to the edge of the bed.

- "What kind of Zorath are you? I’ve never seen one like you."

(Said the man, confused.)

- "As I told your wife, I don’t know what a Zorath is or why they call me that."

(Said Morgan, truly confused.)

The man, seeing that Morgan was genuinely confused and didn’t seem to know what they were talking about, sighed and began to untie him.

- "Adam, what are you doing?"

(Said Ariel, scared.)

- "Calm down, I know what I’m doing."

(Said Adam, confidently.)

The man removed Morgan’s restraints, and he began to massage his wrists, which hurt a bit.

- "Well, then, if you’re not a Zorath, what are you?"

(Said the man, confused and curious.)

Morgan sat on the edge of the bed and thought about the question.

- "I’m... what am I?"

(Said Morgan, staring at the ceiling.)

- "I guess I’m a... axolotl?"

(Said Morgan, ironically.)

- "What’s that?"

(Said Ariel, still distrustful.)

Behind the woman, Iliana’s head slowly peeked out, and, still scared, she observed Morgan. Upon seeing him, she smiled kindly. Seeing Morgan’s smile, Iliana hid behind her mother once more.

- "Answer me, what’s that? What’s an axolotl?"

(Said the woman, annoyed.)

- "Calm down, Ariel, calm down."

(Said Adam, calming Ariel.)

Morgan, smiling and with his characteristic sweet tone, answered.

- "Wow, don’t you remember me? The girl behind you picked me up yesterday."

(Said Morgan, looking at Iliana.)

- "And you gave me a container to sleep in."

(Said Morgan, looking at Ariel.)

Both Ariel and Adam were confused upon hearing this, as they had never seen Morgan before, much less helped him. However, Iliana stepped out from behind her mother’s back and began to analyze Morgan. She then saw those things coming out from the sides of his face and remembered the little animal she had picked up by the river.

- "Little friend?"

(Said Iliana, confused.)

- "Wow, looks like you remembered."

(Said Morgan, with a big smile.)

- "Eh, is it really you?"

(Said Iliana, very surprised.)

- "Yeah, but my name’s not 'little friend,' it’s Morgan. Nice to meet you, Iliana."

(Said Morgan, smiling.)

- "Impossible! You were that cute creature Iliana brought home?"

(Said Ariel, astonished.)

- "Yes, that’s me."

(Said Morgan, calmly.)

- "But how? How did you look like that and now you look like this?"

(Said Adam, equally impressed.)

- "I don’t know, I don’t even know why I look like this now."

(Said Morgan, also confused.)

- "Well, you’re definitely not a Zorath, or at least not one I know, since I’ve never heard of one who can change shape like you. Had you heard of anything like that, Ariel?"

(Said Adam, looking at his wife.)

- "I’ve heard of some who can do that, but when they transform, they become thousands of times bigger than he did."

(Said Ariel, thinking.)

Iliana slowly started to approach Morgan. Ariel tried to stop her, but her father didn’t let her and allowed Iliana to get closer to Morgan. The young redhead stared at Morgan’s long hair and, with some fear, asked:

- "Can I touch it?"

Morgan, with a big smile and his characteristic sweet tone, responded:

- "Go ahead."

Iliana started touching Morgan’s hair.

- "Ah, it’s so soft!"

(Said Iliana, very happy.)

Iliana’s father, seeing the situation, just smiled.

- "So, where are you from?"

(Said the father, a little calmer.)

- "Where am I from?"

(Said Morgan, not sure what to answer.)

At that moment, he began to remember his past life, his old world.

- "I guess... from far away."

(Said Morgan, somewhat sadly.)

- "But I want to ask you something: Why did you call me Zorath? What is that? Why were you so afraid of me?"

(Said Morgan, confused.)

Ariel and Adam looked at each other. At the same time, Ariel spoke and began to tell the story.

- "Alright, I’ll tell you what a Zorath is and why we’re afraid of you."

"You see... six hundred years ago, man... man ruled this world as if nothing could threaten him. They thought they were superior in everything, unable to conceive that something could shatter their pride. But that mockery of reality... that excessive arrogance... was destroyed in one blow. The Zorath... those damn Zorath, decided to declare war on the Kingdom of Man. And King Morpheus prepared his armies, marched into battle with the foolish arrogance of someone who thinks everything is in his favor."

"And what happened? Nothing but disaster. Morpheus led his men to the abyss. The human army, filled with brave men, met... despair. The Zorath... those monsters, those beings that seemed human but weren’t, tore us apart. They used Aranthiel without saying a damn word. And we... we had to recite damn incantations to use it, as if our lives depended on those damn words. And of course, it was a disadvantage that killed us before we could even think of summoning power."

"And if that wasn’t enough? Those who dared to fight hand to hand... do you know what happened to them? They were wiped out from existence with one blow. A damn blow. It was said that one of those monsters could kill fifteen men with a single blow. How... how the hell were we supposed to face something like that? An army of a million human souls... reduced to half by an army of 45,000 Zorath! 45,000 What kind of cruel joke was that?"

"Morpheus... that damn king, didn’t even have the courage to stay. He ran away! He fled like a damn coward! He let his men bleed out in that massacre. That day... that day, Half a million brave men fell. And the Zorath... they were still there, as if nothing had happened. They, the monsters, returned without a scratch, celebrating their victory, mocking us all."

"And then... then came the news. The shame. The defeat. The total fall. The Zorath... those damn, formed a pact. All of them. The long-eared Zorath, the fire Zorath, the human-skin Zorath, the beast Zorath, the winged Zorath, and the monster Zorath. They united, and the Human Kingdom... the Human Kingdom was wiped out in a single damn day. King Mor

pheus’s head... his head was displayed as a trophy. Those who resisted... were annihilated. And those who surrendered... became slaves or, worst of all, food."

(Said the woman, somewhat tired and frustrated.)

Morgan, terrified by Ariel’s story, could only think of one thing.

- "What kind of place have I reincarnated into?"

End of Chapter. Next Chapter: The Strength Within You.